BERLIN, Oct 21: King Abdullah of Jordan arrived on Monday for a four- day state visit, accompanied by Queen Rania is reported to have predicted in German newspaper interviews, that a war between Iraq and the US was likely.

However the possibility of a member of the Jordanian royal family assuming the Iraqi throne should President Saddam Hussein be deposed was very unlikely, Abdullah told the newspaper Handelsblatt in an interview granted prior to his arrival.

But Abdullah said it would be “something else” if the Iraqi people themselves sought a monarchy.

The Jordanian monarch arrived in Berlin Monday evening for talks on the Mideast crisis and relations between Berlin and Amman.

The king warned in the newspaper interview that war with Baghdad would only fuel the fortunes of extremists and bring them more recruits.

“It’s not Iraq but rather the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is the main reason for Middle East instability. If this problem was resolved 90 per cent of tensions would be removed,” said King Abdullah.

Asked about reports that Jordan’s Prince Hassan had ambitions to become the leader of a post-war Iraq, the king said: “It is very dangerous to bring members of my family in connection with the post- war Iraq order.”

“I have very big reservations over such a role for the Hashemite royal family,” said King Abdullah.

But he then added: “It would be something else if the Iraqis believed that a monarchy could bring them together. This, however, would have to be something which comes from them. It’s not anything we are planning.”

Prince Hassan attended a meeting of Iraqi dissidents in London last July where he reportedly spoke about “assuming his ancestral responsibilities”. The prince’s great-grandfather was the British appointed king of the Arabs and his great-uncle was king of Iraq until being overthrown and assassinated in 1958.

Rather than the creation of an Iraqi monarchy, King Abdullah said it was more likely that a strong military-led government in Baghdad would seek to bring together the different groups in the country.

In an interview with another paper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the king was asked what he told Iraqi President Saddam Hussein when they talked.—dpa